Living Fearless by Jamie WinshipSample

Awareness

When we practice truth telling, everything in our life changes, and when we start truth telling with God, our relationship with Him becomes more alive. We can pay attention to Him because God will only speak to us in truth. That does not mean I’m perfect. Living in truth does not mean I am without flaw; it simply means I am in the transformation process.

There are three ways to think of the mystery of myself—the real self, the true self, and the false self. The real me isn’t afraid to tell the truth as I see it. The real me is realistic about who I am: I’m really unhappy, I’m really afraid, I’m really fearful, I’m really worried. I’m saying what I believe in my heart. I’m not talking about what I know in my head. Religious people talk from the head, not from the heart: I know I’m supposed to be happy, but I’m not; I know I’m supposed to never be afraid, but I’m afraid.

But God, in His love and patience, presses us forward. We can feel it down in our heart as we sense, “Let’s do this new thing!” Then we dream and have an idea and think, “I can do this!”

And then, in our mind we say, “No. No.” Why? “Because I’m not worthy. I’m filled with shame. I’m afraid. So I cannot do it.” This type of thinking hurts us. If we could live and lead with our heart, what a different life we would experience.

Once the heart and mind are brought into balance, with the mind serving the heart, we can live with an unconflicted mind. Can you imagine living with an unconflicted mind where your heart and mind are always in sync? And even greater, your heart and mind are in sync with each other and they’re in sync with God? Imagine living like that!

I’m not talking about some religious magic world. I’m talking about real life, like on a Monday morning. I know who I am, and I know how to align my heart and mind in relationship with God. As a result, I can do anything in my true identity.

Here’s an exercise to practice: when you’re stuck in traffic or somewhere else, just say, “Lord, remind me of a time when I was a child and you were communicating your love to me, and I didn’t even realize it. Remind me of a time in my past when you were speaking to me, and I didn’t know it was you.”